Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-01-26
ART OF DIE-SINkING.
. TALK WITH AN OLD NEW YORK
MEDAlLlST.
The Seal of the Confederate Treasury De
partms Taking the First impress
sion - Making Dies and Striking
on Medals-DesIgns
New York Sun !


ing over the collection OF political me ials
and tokens belonging to Robert Hewitt, Jr
Mr.. Hewitt picked up from the tray what ap-
! peared t. bs the impression OF seal on lead.
! As he held up the piece the reporter saw
| in bold relief a palmetto tree in the middle
OF the leadeu circle. Tho inscription near
! the upper rim was Confederate States OF
America, an on either side Of the palmetto
Treas Dept"
That" continued Mr.. Hewitt, "iS the
I first inn res'iUn ever taken from the
original seal of the Confederate treas
ury department. The zeal was cut
by the me lallist and die siuker
George H. Lpvett-oll George Lovett now
hut brisk and active when he cut this
seal think he began work on it about a
month before Fort Sumter wa, fired on He
also did the seal for the stltA Of Virginia,
of which this is an impression, and Mr..
Hewitt showed the impress on lead OF the
following de ign: An Amazonian figure
tranping upon a prostrsts man, from whose
head crown is falling. The inscriptions
are: Virginia, Liberty and Union" and
"Sic Semper Tyrannis' 1t is almost iden-
tical with ths original seal Of Vir Sinia but
in that seal the crown lie. on the ground.
There were curious circumstances con-
nected with the ordering of the treasury
SEAL" continued Mr.. Hewitt "Lovett can
tell you all about it."
Following Mr.. Hewitt's directions, the re-
porter soon found himself in a little Office
on the third floor of a Broad way building
Seated at long. narrow table near the
window, and peering through a magnifying
glass adjusted so that a circular piece Of
steel helI by clamps was within its focus,
Il
small iu'trum,nt Hi face was partially
turned away. but his gray hair showed him
10 be well advanced in vear[
The reporter spoke of seeing the first i'm
preston of the Confederate treasury seal.
been 50 eager about it | never wouIi have
dars1 to take the impression. You see, l
was carefully watched A total stranger,
whom have never seen since then nor heard
of in any way, came to me with the design
and orderel the seal After the eng lapse
( time can remember him only a. tall and
ark Nearly all the time l was cutting
the seal he sat in the Office
watching the work He seemed
xceedingly anxious that ! should finish the
job as soon as practicable. and at the same
time he didn't want any OF my other custo-
mers to see the de ign On one of the very
few occasions when he ha left the Office
for a brief space Of time Mr.. Hewitt hap
pened in. knew him 10 be an enthusiastic
Rumi~matist. So let him SEQ this design
and the seal which had almost finished,
only the final touches, il remember Alright
being wanted. Mr.. Hewitts numismatic
enthusiasm was at once aroused. could
not resist his request for an impression. |
had u dippsr OF molten lead on the fire, and
Ipoursd the lead ever the seal Thus was
taken the first impression OF the seal OF ths
Confederate treasury department IL was
barely cold and in Mr.. Hewitt's pocket
before the stranger entered. | made the
seal for Virginia. and curiously enough
that for West Virginia When Virginia
seeded the orgin.Rl must have been lost,
othsrwi-e | can't account for the order
received, nor do know why the slight
change from the original should have been
wanted"
The reporter asked Mr.. Lovett II there
had been any change in nichols since lie
had teen in the profession.
I'VE formerly cut on steel bound with
iron, so that, il the steel cracked. the iron
wOuld hold the pieces together. But since
then the quality of steel has been greatly
improved SO that the binding can be dis
penSed with. The metal for our work now
comes in round or octagon- sh a pc bars from
six to fifteen feet long. We SAW off piece
Of the bar for each design We have to cut
Medals, Of coursA require two dies We
strike off the medals on powerful screw
presses Hard mstAlS we ars obliged To an
neal from six to ten times before we can get
q clear impression
Then much time must be consumed in
striking off the meialsf'
-YeS When the medal is a fine one and
careful work is required, rarely strike of
more than four or five medals a day. But
that kind of work isn't called for
very often nov. The demand for medals
has increased wonderfully, but people
want them small and cheap Work haS
to be done quickly now. Orders are
coming in from all over the country. am
constantly sinking dies for mslals to be dis
tributsi as prlGss at agricultural fairs. col
lege commencemsnts, musical prizs conts sts,
prIzs drills, or e. be sold as memorials a.
centennial celebrations. Hers, for instance,
Is a medal | have cut for the Ala ba ma
state fair. The diverse repre-. ents the arms
of the state; the revere a scene on a cot
ton plantation. The wreath around it is
composei Of wheat, corn and rice. For
merly orders were fewer, but the designs
were more elaborate Most OF the designs
that come to me now ! can cut in q week
many Of them in q day or two. Contrast
that with the two months and q half spent
on the cable medal That medal was or
dsred by the cham ber OF commerce to COM
menorate the succs g: :ul layin Of the Field
cable. shoul think that SO. 600 worth Of
gold was put into the limited number Of
gold copies struck OF. They were presented
to Mr.. Field, the officers of the vessels
which took part in laying the cable. and
Others prominently concerned in the en-
terprise.
Il have designed some curious pieces in
my day. / remember that in 1870 the issue
Of the so-called shin-plasters email political
medalSl began. Ons which l struck off rep
resented jackson coming out of a safe and
carrying bag Of money. The inscription
was: ! take the resp visibility During
the war designed the large medal pre- seuted
to Maj Anderson for his defense OF Sumter,
and that concentrating the victory Of the
MonitorT
4In what mstals do you generally strike
of your m ,dalsl'
Most commonly in white metal, which
closely resembles silver. and realms its lus-
ter for long time. For presidential cam
paigns or any important celebration die
sinkers get out little white metal me ais
with the busts OF the candidates or soms de-
signs commemorative of the celebration
We strike thee medals off by the thou
sands Thew are hawked about on the
street and sold BY fancy DEALER. Be ide;
white metal We use br nnza, o. more properly
speaking. bron % stained copper. The pre-
cious metals are not often callsi for"
as there any favOrite line Of de'igns'"
IF rmerly it was considered the thing
to put heat OF Washington on a metal il
YOU cou'd fini any preteIt for so doing.
NV. the arms OF the state in which the fair
or celebration occurs Il most frequently In
cluded in designs
Wrestling In Japan.
Wrestling in Japan is always done IN